NewsClick's Amit Chakraborty gets bail in UAPA case
ALSO READ: NewsClick: Court acknowledges founder received funds for pro-China content Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma had reserved the order after Chakravarty's counsel submitted that the chargesheet has already been filed in the case and the petitioner, after turning an approver, has been cited as a prosecution witness. Chakravarty's lawyer had said that the high court has the discretion under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to grant bail to him. The counsel for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had said the prosecution has no objection if the relief is granted to him.
In January this year, the trial court had allowed Chakravarty to turn an approver in the case and granted pardon to him. He had claimed that he is in possession of “material information" about the case, which he is willing to disclose to the Delhi Police. NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and Chakravarty were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on October 3 last year.
Both are currently in judicial custody. ALSO READ: Newsclick case: We have obtained all requisite sanction, says Delhi Police According to the first information report (FIR), a large amount of funds to NewsClick came from China to “disrupt the sovereignty of India" and cause disaffection against the country. The FIR also accused Purkayastha of conspiring with a group -- People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) -- to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
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